Chapter 432: The Third Time
Translator: AnubisTL
As they emerged from the spatial rift, Jieming felt a sudden wave of vertigo, as if a blunt object had struck the back of his head.
But he steadied himself instantly, his mind clearing in a heartbeat.
“Captain?” a squad member asked from behind.
“I’m fine,” Jieming signaled with a hand, his gaze already sweeping the area ahead.
Having crossed the pitch-black spatial rift, their force of one thousand had appeared in the sky behind the main battlefield.
Before them stood the Wizard Army, arrayed and ready for battle—millions of wizards formed ranks, rune turrets bristled across the landscape, and energy shields shimmered with a faint light in the air.
Further off, on the horizon, the enemy army loomed as a dense, black mass.
And at this moment, the vigilance units at the rear of the Wizard Army had already turned their weapons to aim directly at them.
“Reinforcements?” A sixth-tier wizard flew out from the ranks, his voice laced with wariness. “At a time like this?”
Jieming didn’t say a word. He simply raised his magic net terminal.
A beam of light projected into the air, displaying the orders from Starforger Artorius. At the bottom, the mental power imprint of an eighth-tier wizard blazed as blindingly as the sun.
The sixth-tier wizard’s pupils constricted, and he immediately saluted. “Authentication passed.”
He turned and signaled the troops behind him, only then did the vigilance force lower their weapons.
But the tension remained thick. The wizards’ eyes were filled with confusion, clearly unable to comprehend why a reinforcement force had suddenly appeared.
Thank goodness Master Artorius had made preparations in advance, Jieming thought.
If that eighth-tier wizard hadn’t already withdrawn all troops from the plane and explained the situation after discovering the truth about the time loop, Jieming would still be wasting his breath trying to convince these people.
Now, all he needed was a single order.
Soon, the seventh-tier wizard leading the force flew down from the command platform. He was a middle-aged man with a stern expression, wearing a silver-gray magic robe and a Seven-Star Medal pinned to his chest.
He took the command scroll and examined it closely, his expression darkening with each passing second.
“So…” The seventh-tier wizard looked up, a flash of understanding crossing his eyes. “We’ve been trapped in this loop for a long time, haven’t we?”
“Yes, Master Frost,” Jieming nodded. “According to the command center’s observations, we have already been through one hundred and thirty-eight cycles.”
Frost fell silent for two seconds, then suddenly sneered, “No wonder the scouts reported that the enemy’s formation had completely changed. I thought the intelligence was just outdated…”
He looked at the thousand soldiers behind Jieming. “You are the new variable. Does Master Artorius hope you will break the stalemate?”
“We are the First Combat Squad,” Jieming stated calmly. “Our mission is to gather intelligence within the reincarnation and test the enemy’s response limits.”
“Excellent,” Frost nodded. “Then let’s not waste any more time. Go to the central army position and command Phalanxes 203 through 207. Remember—observe carefully, and don’t rush to throw your lives away. I need to know how the enemy reacts.”
“Understood.”
Jieming led his team to the designated position.
The central army was located slightly back from the middle of the battlefield. This spot offered a clear view of the entire situation while remaining relatively safe. Other wizard squads were stationed nearby; they exchanged nods of acknowledgment before taking their positions.
Jieming landed on the command platform. His team quickly fanned out behind him, inspecting the rune turrets and energy nodes. These were standard equipment, present on every command platform.
“Captain, the cannon fodder phalanx is connected,” the adjutant reported. “Should we deploy them now?”
“Deploy them,” Jieming said, his divine sense already sinking into his internal grotto-heaven.
By habit, he should have immediately released the Black Giant Legion to join the front lines.
But as Jieming’s spirit swept through his internal grotto-heaven, he froze.
The Black Giant Legion, which should have been formed in neat ranks of five thousand, was now only half present. Two thousand five hundred pitch-black figures stood silently, while the other two thousand five hundred positions… were empty.
In front of the empty area, two white metal plates lay on the ground.
One was marked “1.”
The other was marked “2.”
Jieming’s pupils constricted.
Knowing himself as he did, he quickly realized what this meant.
Number plates… This is my habit of leaving markers for myself.
1 and 2… Have I already gone through two reincarnations?
He shot a look at the charging platform—three Sunfire Extinction Ray Staffs were plugged into it, their energy readings showing charging progress of 47%, 63%, and 22%, respectively.
I’ve used them.
In the previous reincarnation, I had already played my trump cards.
The good news was that the internal grotto-heaven seemed to be unaffected by the time reversal.
The bad news was that once something was taken out of it, it wouldn’t be reset by the reincarnation.
“A time paradox…” Jieming muttered.
His internal grotto-heaven was essentially an independent, small-scale plane. Though it was bound to him, its time flow and rules were not completely synchronized with the Reincarnation Plane.
When time rewound in the Reincarnation Plane, the timeline within the grotto-heaven might have continued—or at least, events that had already occurred would not be reversed.
The Black Giants that had vanished were existences “canceled out” by the time paradox.
They existed neither in this round’s timeline nor had they returned to the grotto-heaven. They had simply… vanished.
A chill crept up Jieming’s spine.
This silent, imperceptible loss was the most terrifying thing of all.
If he hadn’t seen it himself, he never would have discovered that he had already lost half of his Black Giant Legion, nor the fact that he had already endured at least two bitter battles.
“Captain?” his adjutant’s voice called out. “The enemy is advancing.”
Jieming forced himself back to his senses, instinctively searching his internal grotto-heaven for other intelligence.
Fortunately, he found it easily—behind the metal plate marked “2,” there was a small pile of recording crystals.
It was the intelligence left by his past self from the previous round.
But the distant enemy was already closing in, and there was no time to review it now.
Jieming took a deep breath and pulled his consciousness back to reality.
With a wave of his hand, he opened a rift in his internal grotto-heaven. After a moment’s hesitation, he selected one thousand Black Giants from the remaining two thousand five hundred and dropped them into the cannon fodder phalanx ahead.
His gaze swept past his own ranks, piercing the distance.
On the horizon, a black tide was surging.
It was the Insect Army.
Hundreds of millions of creatures with mantis heads and cockroach bodies, clad in chitinous armor, were swarming forward. Some crawled, some flew, and the vast majority were even equipped with what looked like sophisticated energy weapons.
Their movement created a dense, rhythmic clatter, merging into a single sound like a never-ending rainstorm.
And behind the black tide, dozens of colossal shadows loomed—Level 7 creatures, each one as massive as a mountain.
Further in the distance, five suffocating auras loomed in the sky.
Eighth-tier.
“What a… lavish lineup,” Jieming muttered.
Frost’s voice crackled across the magic network, reaching every unit: “All units, prepare for engagement—remember, we’re changing the rhythm this time! After the first volley, the left wing will press forward, while the right wing falls back to regroup!”
As the order was issued, the Wizard Army began adjusting its formation.
But at that very moment…
Jieming suddenly sensed the Scythe-Skull Race’s army array… also making subtle adjustments.
Their flying units were concentrating on the left wing, while the ground forces visibly reinforced their defenses on the right.
It was as if… they had known the wizards would change formations all along.
“Just as I thought.” Jieming gripped his staff. “They remember. With every reincarnation, they remember.”
The black tide suddenly surged forward.
Every wizard immediately heightened their focus, concentrating their spirits to prepare for the onslaught.
The enemy had begun its charge.
(End of the Chapter)